U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,690 discloses a releasable stop for stopping a vehicle moving through a conduit under air pressure. However, in that device the force of the stopping vehicle is applied to the air piston and cylinder assembly which undesirably is required to absorb the vehicle impact. Furthermore, the mechanism shown therein is not suitable for stopping heavier vehicles which will, on impact, compress the air in the piston and cylinder assembly and bypass the stop latch. And in the event power is disconnected from the piston and cylinder assembly, vehicles may pass through the latch.
The present invention is directed to an apparatus for releasably stopping a vehicle moving through a conduit in which a stop gate is moved between an opened and closed position by an actuating means, but in which the impacting force of the vehicle is absorbed by a linkage and the actuating mechanism is not subjected to the vehicle impact.